Steve Case is the founder, former CEO and Chairman of the Board of America Online. He currently acts as chairman and CEO of Revolution, a holding company that helps build companies.

In 1991, Case founded America Online through a reorganization of Quantum Computer Services, merging its two ISP services, AppleLink and PC-Link, under a single umbrella. Better known as AOL, the company became synonymous with the Internet. With its online software suite, named after the company, it acquired one million users in 1994 and at its peak, maintained more than 30 million users worldwide. The accelerated growth of the company led to the billion-dollar merger with Time Warner in 2000. On Dec.9, 2009, AOL officially split from Time Warner.

Case's entrepreneurial spirit continues with his new venture Revolution, launched in April 2005. Its mission "is to partner with entrepreneurs in building businesses that give people more choice, control and convenience in important areas of their life," as stated on the company's Web site, revolution.com. Some of its companies include Zipcar, Exclusive Resorts and Revolution Money, which American Express announced would purchase for $300 million in November 2009.

Case also believes strongly in philanthropy. Founding the Case Foundation with his wife Jean in 1997, the organization describes its purpose on its Web site as promoting everyday philanthropy, deepening civic engagement, and broadening the use of new technologies to make giving more informed, efficient, and affective. Some of its initiatives have included Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure and America's Giving Challenge.

Case earned a political science degree from Williams College, in Williamstown, MA, in 1980. He was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2009.

Luck plays a factor, asserts Steve Case, CEO of Revolution, but it goes back to one of the truisms: If you're working really hard and showing up a lot, you tend to be luckier. He believes luck is a result of a planning and being at the right place at the right time. But it's also about being aware and recognizing the patterns.

Luck is important, but perseverance really does matter. Steve Case, former CEO and chairman of AOL, explains that in the 1990s, AOL seemed like an overnight sensation, coming out of nowhere. "We were a 10-year-in-the-making overnight sensation," he quips. There were a lot of ups and downs before AOL became one of the hottest companies in the country, he says. His own experience really emphasizes a crucial point: if you really believe in the idea, figure out a way to stay in the game.

Steve Case sums up his career as an entrepreneur: the creation of AOL, the failed merger, the resurgence with Revolution. Entrepreneurship fuels the economy with the risk-taking attitudes on business and innovation that can change the world. He adds that the recession may open the door for what may be the "golden era of entrepreneurship": the big companies are being defensive and leaving an opportunity for a bold entrepreneur to swing for the fences. With his own company Revolution, he keeps an eye out for the next great idea fueled by the passion and perseverance of the right people.

Innovation, risk-taking and entrepreneurship are critical to getting the economy back on track, pronounces Steve Case, former CEO and chairman of AOL. While the government is doing what it can, it requires the private sector - and entrepreneurs - to take risks to help keep the American economy robust. For success in entrepreneurship, Case believes it requires the three P's: people, passion and perseverance.

Looking back on his first 20 years with AOL, Steve Case reflects that he really thrived on the innovation of his first startup. His next project, Revolution, invests in people and ideas that change the world, which is the same mission of his philanthropic organization, the Case Foundation. Too many entrepreneurs, he believes, have a "built-to-flip mentality, as opposed to a built-to-last, built-to-change-the-world mentality." He says that the Internet has become a lot like the entertainment industry: it's easy to produce a movie but hard to build and sustain an audience.

How did the AOL-Time Warner merger become the worst merger in history? Steve Case, former CEO and chairman of America Online, says that while the dot.com bubble bursting may have added to demise of the venture, he believes that the core reason goes back to the three P's: there was a culture clash between the two companies; the passion that pushed AOL forward diminished; and people wanted a quick fix to profit loss and didn't persevere.

People, passion, perseverance. Former AOL CEO and Chairman Steve Case describes these words as the bedrock of successful entrepreneurship. Heading into what may be a "golden era of entrepreneurship," he says that he relies on the "three p's" as assessment tools to help guide his direction and goals. When all of the three parts are in balance, an entrepreneur can achieve success like that of AOL; when they aren't, you get the failure of the AOL-Time Warner merger.

People, passion, perseverance. Former AOL CEO and Chairman Steve Case describes these words as the bedrock of successful entrepreneurship. Heading into what may be a "golden era of entrepreneurship," he says that he relies on the "three p's" as assessment tools to help guide his direction and goals. When all of the three parts are in balance, an entrepreneur can achieve success like that of AOL; when they aren't, you get the failure of the AOL-Time Warner merger.